Year: 2017

From Shiro Kuma's Blog by kumafr

“I cannot teach anybody anything. I can only make them think” Socrates

Sensei once said nearly the same: “I don’t teach my students, but I teach them to teach themselves”. That is the same idea except that in Budō thinking is not possible.

If you think the movement while doing it, nothing good gets out of it. The thought process is only present in the studying phase, not during the battle.
We had a Kukishin ryû class yesterday with Noguchi sensei, and the ease with which he was unfolding the waza didn’t let any opening for thinking. Beyond the form lies the beauty of natural movement. When Noguchi sensei does a technique, he more or less always follows the same pedagogical pattern, i.e.:
1) basic waza read dusky from the denshō;
2) breaking the waza;
3) changing the beginning of it to adjust the kaname hidden within to the intentions of the opponent. (1)

This last part is always the most interesting because when he does it, it is hard to see the original form. And this is where Budō is different from Socrates. There is no thinking involved. Noguchi doesn’t think, he does henka after henka, without stopping. Those of you familiar with his classes know what I mean. Each class is a permanent rebuilding of the waza based on the kaname.

As we were uneven in the class yesterday, he asked me to correct the students which gave me a good chance to witness the whole class from the outside. This allowed me to understand better his modus operandi. When I train as a student, I’m doing my best to follow his body flow. Being an observer yesterday, gave me a deeper vision of his moves. Learning the original waza is a necessary step when your study Budō, and at a certain level, you have to forget these basic forms to dig deeper into the feeling they contain.
Many practitioners do not understand that. I often see high ranks doing waza correctly according to the text, but never going away from it. In a way, they train like “advanced beginners”.

As a Shidōshi, you have to know the basic technique. And Sensei repeated it again during his first class of the year. But to grasp the essence of Mutō Dori, one must not stop there. The real fight is not possible if you simply do the form. Waza are only valid if you can free yourself from them.

The secret is to teach the written waza and to train the kaname beyond the form. And to do that, you have to study more and to think a lot about the invisible part which lies within it. If you don’t, you will never be able to grasp the natural body flow which comes with direct adaptation.

Once you have acquired the waza, you have to destroy it. Once destroyed, you do not need to think, you use uke’s intention against him. This three-step process in Japan is called “Shu Ha Ri”, or “absorb, innovate, depart”.

Here’s how it works: “In Shu, we repeat the forms and discipline ourselves so that our bodies absorb the forms that our forebears created. We remain faithful to these forms with no deviation.
Next, in the stage of Ha, once we have disciplined ourselves to acquire the forms and movements, we make innovations. In this process, the forms may be broken and discarded. Finally, in Ri, we completely depart from the forms, open the door to creative technique, and arrive in a place where we act following what our heart/mind desires, unhindered while not overstepping laws.” (Wikipedia) (2)

Each class with Noguchi sensei is a fantastic opportunity to see this process in action. But thinking is only possible during the first two phases Shu and Ha. Because Ri is a pure reaction, and the only thing to do is to ride the waves of uke’s intentions.

_______________________
1. Kaname: 要, vital point; cornerstone; keystone
2. On Shu Ha Ri: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuhari

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From Shiro Kuma's Blog by kumafr

While in Dubai, we had a nice discussion after the Sakki test. The new Dubai Shidōshi, was telling me that when I came him for the test, he thought his heart was going to explode. He was scared to death. 

But we all know, the only risk is a bump in the top of the head. There’s no need to be afraid. Tense, yes. But far, no. 

We are afraid when don’t know. Training, the Sakki test, is only a question of knowing. The more we learn, and the more we know. The more we know , and the more we push our self  imposed limits. 

Life is about pushing these limits. When you are afraid of something, the best attitude (Kamae) is to face it, to see what is the origin of your fear. 

Many people have fears they never confronted. To me this is not the path of a true Bujinkan practitioner. Learning the Bujinkan way is to accept those challenges and situations. 

All my life I have faced my fears: heights, depths, speaking to large groups, etc. This is why I did skydiving, mountain climbing, Scuba  diving, and big seminars. 

Everytime I found out that there was no logical reasons for my fears. Our fears exist prior to the experience. They are simply a mental construction that has no real foundation. They come from our reluctance to changes. 

After so many years in the Bujinkan, I can say that one of the most interesting aspects of sensei’s teachings is to develop this ability to survive and to push our limits. 

Instead of being afraid of the unknown, face it and tame it. It’s easier than you think. 

When I called Hatsumi sensei right after the Fukushima catastrophe, and asked him if he was planning to leave, his answer was “Banpen Fugyō”. To me this is the answer to any fear: Ten thousand changes, no surprise! 

Do not accept your limits, free yourself from fear itself be recognizing  it for what it is: an illusion. 

You want to be happy? Push your limits, because if you don’t, they will become your true limits. 

Ps: congratulations to the first shidōshi made in UAE. 
Paris Taikai 2017 registration

From Shiro Kuma's Blog by kumafr

Many wonder why we train slowly in the Bujinkan. They criticize it, saying that real Martial Arts (understand Sports martial arts here) are better because they have fights. They love the fact that there is always a winner and a loser. “It makes it easier to know who is good and who is not”, they say.

They are right! Sport is a fantastic pedagogical tool, it is a perfect system to develop your body, your reflexes and you should do sports until the end, that is until you are too old to compete.

And at what age is that? I would say around thirty. That’s nice but what do you do for the rest of your life? You quit? No. You train real martial arts.

This age problem didn’t exist in the past. First, you would hardly live past fifty. Actual combat was making sure of that.

Second in Feudal Japan, there was no sport (it was the same in Europe). Sport as we know it, is a modern thing created after WWII. Before, it was reserved to the nobles. Why? because they didn’t have to work six or seven days a week to eat. Getting bored, they developed the concept of sport. The Marquess of Queensbury defined some rules that are still valid today, the Baron of Coubertin reinstaured the Olympics. But that was only at the end of the 19th century. Before that sport is non-existent. 

In sport martial arts, the champions of today lose the world title one year, and get it back on the next year. This was not the case in actual battle, you always died when you lost the encounter. 

What we train in the Bujinkan is based on History. It is the result of actual battlefield combat. The winners being able to transmit what worked, the nine fighting systems taught in the Bujinkan are regrouping only techniques that were tested in real fight. To learn these techniques, you need to do it in a special way. You have to repeat them slowly.

When training in Japan with Nagato sensei, you can often hear him say: “train slowly, only stupid people train fast.”

Training slowly allows the body and the brain to create specific conexions that upgrade our standard “human survival kit” with which we are born. To develop these new abilities, it is also important to use large movements. Doing large movements helps to learn correctness. 

Because of the adrenalin rushing in our body, because of the impossibility to think or plan anything while caught in the middle of the battle, only your reflexes can save you. If you developed new reflexes by training large and slow, there is a chance that you can react adequately, and surpass your attacker.

Maybe it’s time to change the training habits. 

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